Gilad Shalit visits ‘Homeland’ taping in Israel

Since Israel looks a whole lot like all those countries with the terrorists in them, the second season of “Homeland,” the award-winning Showtime show that is based on the Israeli show “Hatufim,” is being filmed there (in Yafo, to be exact). Today the cast (which includes Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin) had a chance to meet a special visitor — Gilad Shalit.

Shalit, the IDF soldier who was abducted by the Hamas and was kept in captivity for more than five years, and whose story helped inspire the creation of the show, met the the show’s stars. He admitted that he has watched the entire first season (in case you were wondering what he’s been doing since being released).

Uri Fintzy is JTA's web content producer and also in charge of weekly video packages and occasional design projects. Uri is from Tel Aviv, Israel and a graduate of the University of Oregon School of Journalism. He has interned with several television stations in Portland, Ore., and in CBS News in New York.